Connie Sullivan-Blum to Retire from The ARTS Council
Corning, NY, 1/3/25 – After 10 years serving as the executive director for The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes (The ARTS Council), Dr. Connie Sullivan-Blum will be retiring on February 7, 2025.
Dr. Sullivan-Blum joined The ARTS Council in 2007 as the Folk Arts Coordinator, a position she held for seven years. She became Executive Director in 2014 and oversaw significant growth in public programming, the establishment of a one-million-dollar endowment, and the renovation of the gallery.
Sullivan-Blum came to the arts sector by an unusual route. She has a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Binghamton University, a degree that prepared her to forge relationships with people from all walks of life as the Folk Arts Coordinator. Community partnerships and connections with individual artists served her well as she transitioned into the Executive Director position. Of her 17 years at The ARTS Council, Sullivan-Blum says, “I’m grateful to have been able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a diverse network of people to help build and maintain a vibrant and open-hearted community through the arts.” She goes on to say, “Working with The ARTS Council team, both the staff and board, has been one of my great pleasures. I am immensely proud of the accomplishments we created together. The staff at the ARTS Council are generous, thoughtful, and hardworking. They support artists with dedication and genuine care. The board is exemplary. They take their visionary and fiduciary responsibilities seriously and have supported and empowered me through the years.”
Karen Martin, president of The ARTS Council board of directors, added: “Connie has taken The ARTS Council to a remarkable level of professionalism and ever greater service to its many regional constituents. On a personal level, it has been such a pleasure to work with Connie in one way or another during her entire time as executive director. We surely will miss Connie but I take comfort in knowing that she will be reigniting her own artistic endeavors in retirement!” The mission of The ARTS Council is to empower artists and encourage arts advocacy, foster creativity and economic vitality, create diverse connections and collaborations, and champion innovation and equity within the arts to cultivate a dynamic community. Since its establishment in 1972, The ARTS Council has held an important place in the community by serving artists of all disciplines, cultural organizations of all sizes and structures, as well as schools, professional and volunteer presenting organizations, and the general public in Cattaraugus, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, and Tioga counties in New York State.
Applications for the Executive Director position at The ARTS Council are now being accepted. For a full job description and application information, click here. The deadline to apply is Friday, February 14, 2025 at 5pm.
